RIPPLE FILES FOR U.S. BANKING LICENSE: DETAILS…

- Ripple officially applied for a national banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), according to a statement by CEO Brad Garlinghouse and confirmed by The Wall Street Journal.

- If approved, it would place Ripple’s U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, $RLUSD, under both federal and state oversight.

- The coin is already regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services.

- Ripple aims to bring $RLUSD reserves under direct custody with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

- On June 30, its subsidiary, Standard Custody & Trust Company, filed for a Federal Reserve master account. This would allow Ripple to issue and redeem $RLUSD around the clock — even outside banking hours.

Jack McDonald, SVP of Stablecoins at Ripple, summed it up:

“The dual nature of that regulation would basically have set a new bar for transparency and compliance in the stablecoin market,”

- Ripple’s bid for a charter and Fed access could make it one of the few crypto firms with full access to the core of U.S. financial infrastructure.

- USDC issuer, Circle, has also applied for a national trust charter and aims to launch a federally regulated bank to manage its reserves.